Organizing

I am in the process right now (and have been the WHOLE day) of organizing a Neighborhood/Ward Progressive Dinner on Friday. I just organized the groups and now I get to run around 40 "invites" to let people know where they will start and so on. I was actually pleasantly surprised at the sign-up though. I think it will be fun?! Keep your fingers crossed that everything goes well! I divided everyone into groups of 8 (4 couples) and then we are ending with dessert at the Church so that everyone can socialize.
How did I get chosen to be the Activities chair again? (honey-- you were supposed to use some of your power and SAVE me from such a thing.. Thanks A lot!!!!)

Anyway,

In the process I made these YUMMY cookies. They are so easy and so good. Here's the recipe just in case you want to give them a try too. (you won't be sorry you did!)

Mint Brownie Cookies
1 pkg. Devil’s Food Cake Mix
1/3 cup oil
½ cup flour
2 eggs
1 tbsp. Water
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease cookie sheet.

In a medium bowl beat together ingredients till smooth, it is thick at the
end I do it with my hands

Roll the dough into 1.5 inch balls and place on the prepared cookie
sheet 2 inches apart. Then smash flat to about ¼ inch thick with bottom of cup
Bake for 6 minutes. Let cool on wire racks

Mint Frosting
¼ cup butter flavored shortening
2 tsp. mint extract
¼ cup butter
2 tsp. vanilla
1 ¾ cup powdered sugar
green food coloring

Mix all ingredients with mixer. Frosting will be lumpy
and dry at first just keep mixing, add food coloring after mixing.

Frost cooled cookies with thin layer of mint frosting, let mint frosting
harden by the air then top with chocolate frosting on top of mint layer
(I used just a Betty Crocker Milk Chocolate frosting).

ENJOY!!

Sick Baby

Man it seems like we can't shake this sickness thing. We need some
healthy thoughts sent our way.

Saturday things were good, but then that night came. We went to the
temple at 5 so we dropped our kids off at Sean's sisters house. When we
picked them up after the temple and dinner, Jayson was not doing
well at all. He sounded horrible and was having trouble breathing.

We brought him home and after he was bundled up, Sean took him outside
to see if the fresh cold air would help. It would help for a little while, but
by about 12:15 he was having some serious struggles to catch his breath.
I took him to the Doctor and when I arrived the intake nurse said it would be
about an hour wait. She asked what was wrong and I told her that he was
struggling to breathe. She had the nurse come out to do a Pulse Ox and as
the nurse was hooking him up she indicated to the intake nurse that they needed
to get him back ASAP. (they even asked that the epinephrine be nearby).
Comforting!

They immediately started him on a breathing treatment. He kept holding his
breath too, which didn't help the situation. After a while with the breathing
treatments he seemed to be able to breathe a little easier. Poor little guy!
They gave him a shot of steroids and sent us home. They were going to
keep us overnight to monitor him, but thought he was okay to leave. He
slept by our bed that night and man it wasn't a restful night. I stared at him all
night long.

I tell ya, I hate when my kids are sick and I can't do anything to ease their
pain. He seems to be doing better each day. Thank heavens for modern
day medicine. How did the pioneers do it? Honestly, to watch their kids
and other loved ones die because they didn't have anything to treat them. That
would have been the hardest thing ever! I know that sounds a bit dramatic
but I was just thinking how hard that would be.

I just hope this sickness heads out soon! My sweet friend just brought
me dinner! We have a great neighborhood.

Happy Birthday Bro.

Today is my brothers birthday! I just wanted to wish him a very happy day. He is a wonderful brother and someone I learn a lot from just through observing. Happy birthday Brent!

XXOXO

Earthquake

So this morning I was ready to get out of bed and the whole bed started to shake. I thought "man did we just feel an earthquake?" and then the phone rang. It was my friend across the street who was wondering the same thing. We flipped on the news and they were talking about it and getting flooded with calls. I guess it registered as a 6.0 earthquake (I'm not sure what we felt), but it was a little scary. I can't imagine a big one.

Anyway, I don't think there was any damage anywhere, except Wells Nevada.

Hope you all have a shake-free Thursday! :)

Last night I got to go to a class for the Pentax K10 that I rec'd for Christmas. It was awesome to learn simple things- like what the heck all the buttons can do! Man, it can do so many fun things! I am excited to play around with it. It was a 3 hour class jammed pack of lots of detail.

Yesterday my sweet husband stayed home so that I could try and get over this yucky cold stuff. Tues. I woke up at 5:00 a.m. to watch two little girls whose dad was going in for surgery. The mom came back around 7:45 that night. It was a long day (even with school), but the girls were great. I don't mind doing things like that, but I felt so yucky all day so it made for a very long day.

Now I have a mountain of laundry I best tackle! hooray.

Loves!

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Weekend happenings

Thursday we had a wonderful Valentines Day! I love my hubby & kids so much!! Julie flew in from Denver for the weekend, along with Katie, Jared and Cayden. It was so much fun to see them all! Sean picked Julie up Thurs. night and she came up to my house and watched the kids while we went out to dinner. Thanks Julie!!

They didn't make it until a little after 8:00 so we just went to the Olive Garden and then came home. Sean was so tired from his convention all day so we called it a night. He bought us Chocolate covered Strawberries from V-Chocolates. They were SOOO yum! Luckily he bought Rylee and Tayler their own box so I could enjoy my own!

Then Friday we left and picked up Katie, Jared and Cayden at the airport and headed out to my mom's house. We played and watched Jared entertain us all. It was so much fun.

Saturday we went bowling and out to lunch and then the gang came up to our house. We ate dinner and played games and just enjoyed each others company. I love being with my family!

Sunday morning I woke up with a horrible sore throat, headache and yucky nose. Rylee had the same thing so we sent Tay to Church with Sean and then stayed home to rest.

Today isn't much better, but I have to work this afternoon! Sean just took the girls bowling again. He is such a fabulous Dad! Jayson and I are just hanging out at home!

Guess who is almost crawling?? Crazy isn't it?!

(This is his best friend the blow up Lion)

Just Hangin out

The past few days have been crazy with:

Helping out in Tay's class

Working on Saturdays and Mondays

Having people over for dinner

Tending

and all the other jobs that go on and on

Rylee started gymnastics at Lil' Flippers and she is so cute and loves it!

But mostly we just hang out and try to keep sane.

(Jayson loves to hang out on Rylee's bed)

I think we will take a snow day tomorrow!

Funny

So, last night when we were tucking the girls into bed Sean asked Tayler a question and said:

S: "Tayler I am asking you a rhetorical question. Do you know what that means?"

T: "No"

S: "It means that I already know the answer"

T: "Well, then why are you asking me."

I was busting up in the other room (where I was feeding Jayson).

Also, I want to give a shout out to my friend Brooke and say Happy Birthday. I hope you had a great day Sunday! I was thinking about you.

All about my hubby

I have seen this on a few people's blog so I thought I would give it a whirl...

1. What is his name? Sean Thomas, but babe to me.

2. How long have you been together? Married 6 1/2 years.

3. Who eats more? Sean, but take me to a bakery and I would probably win!

4. Who said I love you first?I think it was him.. right babe??

5. Who is taller? Sean

6. Who sings better? I think it's a tie

7. Who is smarter? Are you kidding, my husband is brilliant.

8. Who does the laundry? Me. Unfortuntely

9. Who does the dishes? Me, up until a few months ago and now Sean totally takes a turn. I love it!

10. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me

11. Who pays the bills? I do.

12. Who mows the lawn? Both. I actually like it when it isn't too hot! I was 9 months pregnant and still did it (just because I wanted to put myself into labor).

13. Who cooks dinner? Me, because I am home, but Sean should cook dinner because he is an awesome cook. (If he is home he usually does or will help me)

14. Who drives when you are together? Sean has too. I make him too carsick if I drive.

15. Who is more stubborn? That goes to me.

16. Who is the first to admit when they're wrong? Sean- hands down!

17. Whose parents do you see the most? We see them both pretty much on a regular basis.

18. Who kissed whom first? I kissed him, but only after he kissed me on my forehead. Too bad it was silent for a few minutes.

19. Who proposed? Sean. He did such a great job and I was thrilled. I totally killed the mood my turning on the light so I could see my beautiful ring.

20. Who is more sensitive? Me. I can cry on the drop of a hat.

21. Who has more friends? Me

22. Who has more siblings? We are tied on that one. Both have 5 siblings.

23. Who wears the pants in the family? Depends on the day :)

Superbowl Sunday

We had a rockin' party here last night! We had lots of yummy food, and fun people! I wish I could say that I cared more about the Superbowl, but I really don't! My oldest sis was born on Superbowl Sunday, but that's about my extent of connection to the game :)

(I'm all about the food really-- did I mention

how yummy it was?!)

My hubby made it home Saturday afternoon after being gone most of the week. It was nice to have him home again! I hate when he is away. I walked out the door about 10 minutes after he came home to get a massage with one of my friends. It was 2 hours of pure HEAVEN!!!

It my last post I said that Jayson has never gotten sick. I think I jinxed myself because Saturday night we spent WAY too much time together!! We ended up sleeping on the couch because he wouldn't settle down. With a little Tylenol and humidifier he is on the way to recovery. I hope it's just a quick little cold that won't last long.

I am SOOO done with all of this snow. I swear we have had so many huge storms day after day after day here! Luckily this week is suppose to clear up and be semi warm with no snow. SAY hallelujah!!!!

Hope you all had a good weekend too!

Happy Birthday Marcela!

We hope you have a wonderful day!! I wish that we got to see you more often! :)

XXOXX

(Thanksgiving 2006- Rylee, Marcela, and Reyes)

Check up

My little boy had his 6 month check-up today. I can say he is fairly average!

Height: 69%

Weight: 44%
Head: 43%

I didn't realize until I was talking to the Dr. that he has never been sick once. Isn't that amazing? He hasn't even had a runny nose! Life is good for this little guy!

Last week was a good week.

Saturday I had to work, but Sean played super "Dad" and got Tay ready and to gymnastics (spur of the moment I might add) along with the other 2, and then met me at Applebee's for lunch. When I arrived I was pleasantly surprised to see all of their hair done, with ribbons, and dressed in clothes that were cute and matched. I was very impressed. We had a great low key day. I loved it!

Sunday when I heard the news of President Hinkley's passing my heart was sad for us, but happy for him. Sean and I stayed up and watched the tribute that they did after our local news, basically telling his life story. I didn't know that his Mother died at such a young age. After watching the story I felt tired-- for him! What an unbelievable man he was, who NEVER rested. He was in charge of so many things and did such an incredible job. I will miss seeing him at Conference in April. His words somehow seemed to make everything better.

Farewell Dear President Hinkley! We will miss you greatly!!

one day at a time

So yesterday as I dropped everyone off at school I noticed that my little Tay was crying, just looking out the window. After all of the other kids jumped out I drove around the corner to give her a hug and figure out what was wrong before I just sent her in for the day.

After a minute she told me that she couldn't see the "moon" like all the other kids who were pointing to it and talking about it on the way so she was upset. Although that may be a silly thing to cry over it broke my heart. I hate to see my kids upset. I gave her some hugs and cuddled her for a minute and then left the car running and then showed her what all the kids were pointing too so that she wouldn't feel left out. The reason she couldn't see it was because they were looking at a foggy sun, but calling it the moon. She assumed that there was something she wasn't seeing and was looking for the "moon". We laughed and I hugged her and walked her to the door of the school and watched her walk in. She turned around and I winked at her and blew her a kiss.

This made me think a lot about being a parent yesterday and what that entails. I hope that what I teach her is the right thing or that I'm even doing enough as a parent. She has such a tender little heart and I never want that to change.

Does anyone else ever feel that way?

I would love to just keep all of my kids "under my wings" like mother hens do. It's hard to let them go and experience the world for themselves.

I guess I can't keep them from growing up and it's okay. I am grateful for guidance through prayer. I'm not sure what I would do without that.

After I picked her up from school I decided that we would just have a fun day and go to lunch and do a little shopping. Tay picked Chick-Fil-A to eat at (shocker) so off we went. It was a fun day! I think it is the little things that mean a lot! I need to remember that more often!!

Random thought

I have been thinking so much about my dad these past few weeks. We are just shy of 5 years that he has been gone. For some reason

more than before I have such a yearning to see him. I know that he is around and

watching over us, but I just want to be able to wrap my arms around him.

At times, I still expect to see him when I open the door to my parent's house. Sometimes I think it is so unfair, but then I am quickly reminded that it is NOT our plan nor time table that decides how long our journey will be.

I feel blessed to know with NO doubts where we will go after this life and for that I am eternally grateful. I will see him again. What an awesome day that will be!

I put the Josh Groban song "To Where You Are" on my playlist because every time I hear that song I think of him around me.

I want my family to know how much I love each one of them. Thank you for all you do for me.

(I love to see my brothers, Steve, and my hubby in the above picture. To me it is such a powerful one!)

My little dude is 6 months today

Where has the time gone?

I love this little guy sooo much!! He is such a blessing in our lives.

He sits up, rolls all over the place, eats yummy baby food, and loves his johnny jumper!

He is so easy going and loves to smile, laugh, giggle and give kisses!

What a love he is!!!

Weekend

My middle child has been a little sicky since Wednesday! I love her but I have to say she is quite a pathetic sick person! :)

We headed out to my mom's on Wednesday afternoon and she pucked that evening right after dinner and then went down hill from there, coming out both ends! (sorry)

She is on the up and up now which is a relief.

Today since Tayler was home from school and occupied Rylee's time with fun games (and Jayson slept), and we had a MAJOR snow storm-- I started cleaning.. and I mean really cleaning. I cleaned out closets, I threw away tons of toys and other misc. items. I filled our empty trash to overflowing! It feels good. That was just the upstairs, but it's a start! I love to clean things out and feel somewhat organized.

My motto is: "everything has a place and if it doesn't it doesn't belong" I learned that we have WAY too many toys and THINGS.

This weekend was great. Since Rylee was sick we just stayed home and did nothing. It has been a long time since neither Sean or I have had something on the agenda. I loved it!

Hope you had a great weekend too!

Happy Birthday to my Sister!

Happy Birthday Jen

We sure love you in every way!

You are beautiful, talented, and the greatest sister anyone
could ask for.

Have a great day!!

We are thinking about you!! Have a great trip tomorrow!!

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